1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a system and method for implementing a lottery game, and more particularly to a lottery game in which supplementary indicia are drawn which are available only to players who have wagered more than the minimum amount required to play the game.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many governments and/or gaming organizations sponsor wagering games known as lotteries. A typical lottery game entails players selecting permutations or combinations of numbers. This is followed by a “draw,” wherein the lottery randomly selects a combination or permutation of numbered balls. Prizes are awarded based on the number of matches between a player's selection and the drawn numbers. The drawn numbers are the well-publicized, and multi-million-dollar-jackpot lotteries are popular throughout the world.
Lotteries have become an important source of income to governments as they shoulder much of the financial burden for education and other programs. However, as governments have grown more dependent on lotteries, it has become a challenge to increase sales, particularly for on-line games, i.e. games in which player-selected indicia are sent through a terminal to a central system and subsequently compared to lottery-selected indicia to determine if the player has won a prize. One approach for invigorating lottery sales for on-line drawing games is to offer games in which the player has the opportunity to make an additional wager beyond the minimum amount required to play the game. This, in turn, requires that the game be structured in such a way that it is readily apparent to the player that the additional wager provides added value. Thus, there is a need for a lottery game in which players who make a minimum wager will often have the experience of concretely seeing that they could have had a better outcome had they made a larger wager.